Ask Baba Yaga: How Do Relationships Survive Mental Illness?

Transcript after the jump.

Dear Baba Yaga,

My partner is going through a mental health crisis. It’s been about a month now and I feel worn down and exhausted and sad. I love her so much, but when she’s hysterical and asking me if I’m going to leave her, sometimes the answer feels like yes. How do relationships survive mental illness?

BABA YAGA:

One pale tree cannot give its sap to another. If you are a strong & ancient spruce, you may withstand some sap-letting. If you know yrself to be a thin birch, there is no grief in saying so. ;Even the spruce knows, its bleeding saves nobody.

Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. She’s taking questions on behalf of Baba Yaga at [email protected].